Major League Baseball's new steroid policy has been a hot topic this season. For the minor leagues, however, it's old news with a new twist. The big difference this year, however, is that for the first time, the names of players who have tested positive for performance-enhancing substances are being made public.

April is often the cruelest of months for minor league players, schedule-makers and groundskeepers. The still-chilly weather in the North, combined with often less-than-optimal field conditions, forces frequent cancellations that are usually made up in far too many midsummer doubleheaders.

It happens every year. No matter how many preseason prospect reports you look at, no matter how many Top 10 or Top 20 or even Top 100 lists of minor league names to watch, by season's end there will always be some guys at the top of the leader boards that were nowhere to be found when the season began.

For the second time in three years, pitcher Brad Baker didn't spend fall at his Massachusetts home admiring the magnificent foliage. Instead, he was pitching for the Peoria Javelinas in the blazing sun of the Arizona Fall League.